Purpose

The Civic Education program is designed to improve the quality of civics and government education, foster civic competence and responsibility, and improve the quality of civic and economic education through cooperative education exchange programs with emerging democracies. According to the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics, almost one-third of U.S. students scored below basic in civics achievement, and only about one-quarter score at or above the proficient level.

How It Works

This program funds (1) a noncompetitive grant to the Center for Civic Education to carry out civic education activities, (2) a noncompetitive grant to the National Council on Economic Education to carry out economic education activities, and (3) grants or contracts to other organizations to carry out international civic education activities.

Key Requirements

The Center for Civic Education uses funds to continue and expand its "We the People...The Citizen and the Constitution" program. Funds are also used to carry out activities that enhance students' attainment of challenging academic content standards in civics, and activities that provide materials on the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution and the democratic system.

In addition, the Center for Civic Education, the National Council on Economic Education, and other organizations awarded grants will use funds to carry out cooperative education exchange programs for educational and political leaders from the countries identified in the statute. The Center for Civic Education and other eligible organizations can use funds to carry out civic education programs, while the National Council on Economic Education can use funds to carry out economic education programs.

How It Achieves Quality

These programs support challenging academic standards for students, provide advanced, sustained and ongoing training of teachers, and provide support for research and evaluation.